SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 7, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA) and Sacramento-area biopesticide companies Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) and Bayer Crop Science (BCS) are hosting laboratory visits and farm tour for EPA officials as part of the BPIA semi-annual meeting. The group will visit Sacramento Valley farmers who use biopesticides in an integrated pest management (IPM) approach on their farms to protect crops from disease and insect damage. The farm tour will be followed by tours of the MBI labs and the BCS facility, both in Davis.
The EPA officials—Bob McNally, Director, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division; Sheryl Reilly, Associate Chief, Biochemical Pesticides Branch; and Mike Mendelsohn, Acting Associate Chief of the Microbial Pesticides Branch—will be hosted by organic and conventional growers who use biopesticides and chemical pesticides on their farms.
"This is a great opportunity to highlight to the EPA the role biopesticides play in the integration of biopesticides into IPM programs. Biopesticides can help with residue management due to their applications right up to harvest, labor flexibility and rapid field re-entry, and disease and insect resistance management," comments Bill Stoneman, BPIA Executive Director. "In addition, biopesticides have been shown to enhance conventional programs with higher yields and quality when integrated via tank mixes and rotations," he adds.
About Biopesticide Industry Alliance
The BPIA is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering adoption of biopesticide technology through increased awareness about their effectiveness and full range of benefits to a progressive pest management program. BPIA membership includes biological pesticide manufacturers and allied industry, with more than 70 member companies both domestically and internationally.